


Waves and Both of Us

by hapakitsune



Category: The Social Network (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-10
Updated: 2015-05-10
Packaged: 2018-03-29 20:43:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3909997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hapakitsune/pseuds/hapakitsune
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Within five minutes of meeting her roommate, Dusty is half in love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Waves and Both of Us

Within five minutes of walking into her new dorm room, Dusty knows she’s screwed.

It’s all because of her roommate. _Chris ~~tine~~ Hughes_ , it says on the door, right next to _Dustine Moskovitz_. Someone – Christine – has taken a sharpie and crossed out the second half of the name. Dusty is tempted to follow suit because seriously, Dustine is an awful name and her parents should feel really terrible about themselves for that.

She walks in, dragging one of her suitcases behind her, and opens her mouth to ask for the sharpie. Then she actually sees her roommate and she almost trips over her own feet.

Christine – Chris – looks up from making her bed and tucks a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. “Hi,” she says with a bright smile. She has a slight drawl that is utterly endearing. “I’m Chris.”

“Um, I’m, uh, Dusty,” says Dusty. She shakes her head hard and says, “Sorry, yeah. Hi.”

Chris grins and straightens up. And _damn_ she is even more gorgeous than she had first appeared. Dusty bites the inside of her lip to keep from saying something else stupid and instead busies herself with her suitcase.

"What are you studying?" Dusty hears Chris ask. She looks over her shoulder and sees Chris watching her, blue eyes wide and interested. Dusty completely forgets her major for a moment and kind of spaces out just staring at Chris, who is wearing a really expensive-looking blue shirt that drapes just so –

"Uh," says Dusty, because she really needs to not check out her roommate's cleavage, "um, Economics. What about you?"

"Literature," says Chris. "Maybe history. Or both. I haven't decided yet." She smiles a little sheepishly and oh god, she's _adorable_. Dusty is so, so screwed.

\-----

Dusty meets Mark Zuckerberg in her writing class. She sits next to him because she’s late and, well, it’s the last seat open. He’s wearing a hoodie and a pair of cargo shorts, which, well, Dusty is wearing a plaid shirt and the oldest pair of jeans in the world, so she’s not going to judge.

She nudges him while the professor is writing out something on the board and asks, “Do you have a pencil?”

He gives her a look and then digs a mechanical pencil out of his backpack. She grins at him, wide and cheerful. “Thanks,” she says and she busies herself with taking notes.

At the end of class, Dusty hands the pencil back and says, “Thank you.” She holds out her hand and says, “I’m Dusty.”

He eyes her warily, then says, “I’m Mark.” He doesn’t shake her hand.

Undeterred, she decides that her second goal for the semester is to get Mark to talk to her. (Her first goal is to not act like a total idiot around Chris.) She tells Chris this when she gets back to the room.

Chris smiles a little, leaning back in her seat. “Any particular reason for this goal?” she asks. “Is he cute?”

“I dunno,” Dusty says. “I don’t really notice that kind of thing.”

Chris looks startled at that. “Oh,” she says. “I’m, I mean – oh.”

Dusty shrugs and bites her lip awkwardly. "Is that all right?"

Chris coughs, a small smile on her face. "Um, yeah. It's definitely all right. I'm in the LGBT Caucus."

"Already?" Dusty asks in surprise. "We've been here for two weeks!"

"It's something I'm interested in," Chris says.

And so that's how Dusty realizes that she's even _more_ screwed. Not only is her roommate a hot, leggy blonde, she's actually technically available. She is sharing this information with Mark one day after class when he stops her and asks, "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I want to?" she says blankly.

Mark looks suspicious. "Why would you want to talk to me?"

"Because you're funny," Dusty says, which is entirely true. Mark mutters comments under his breath while the teacher is speaking and draws, like, unicorns and shit along the margins of his notebook. "And hey, aren't you supposed to branch out in college? Meet new people?" She slaps his shoulder companionably. "Come back to my room, drink a beer. We'll brainstorm ideas for this essay and you can meet my roommate."

"Oh yay, a hot blonde lesbian. One more girl to turn me down," Mark says dryly, but he does eventually agree to come by.

\-----

Dusty meets Eduardo when she goes to get help on her economics homework. He's one of the peer tutors and she loves him instantly. He's good-looking, polite, and well-dressed. Also, smart, which is really what Dusty needs.

"You're doing this all wrong," he says when he sees her homework. "It's like this." He leans over and scribbles a few numbers down. Dusty stares at it for a moment, frowning, and then it all becomes clear.

"Ahh," she says. "I see. Do you think you can help me with the rest of this? I'm going to fail out and this is my fucking major."

Eduardo looks at the clock. "I have to go to a club meeting right now, but maybe later?"

"Sure. I'll buy you pizza," Dusty says. She scribbles down her phone number and her dorm room. "Come on by whenever, I'll probably just be playing Mario Kart or something."

Eduardo laughs and says, "Okay. I'll see you later."

Dusty heads back to her room after parting ways with Eduardo and finds Mark in there, sitting on her bed and typing on his computer. He looks up and says, "My roommate is having sex."

"I took pity on him," Chris says from her perch on the windowsill. "He looked like a lost puppy."

Dusty grins and sits on Mark's legs. "Poor baby."

"Ouch," says Mark tonelessly.

Dusty does eventually move, but only because she has to use her computer. She and Mark end up working on their writing assignment together, yelling across the room at each other louder than is strictly necessary. Chris laughs so hard she nearly falls off the sill.

Eduardo shows up a little later and looks very bemused when Dusty throws the door open with great enthusiasm. She grabs his arm and tugs him inside.

"And we have yet another gentleman caller, Christine," she calls. "Eduardo, meet my roommate Chris. Chris, this is Eduardo."

"What am I?" demands Mark crossly. “Invisible?”

"And that's Mark," she tells Eduardo dismissively. "He has no place else to go."

"Hi," Eduardo says, waving a little. Dusty grabs her Econ textbook and homework before sitting cross-legged on the floor.

"All right, Eduardo," she says. "Time for you to make me an econ star."

Mark snorts and Dusty flips him off over her shoulder. Eduardo looks slightly mystified, but he bends over Dusty's book and starts explaining things to her.

After a few minutes, Mark's typing stops. Dusty looks around to see if something's wrong, but Mark is just staring at Eduardo and frowning a little. "Mark?" Dusty says.

"You're good at math," Mark says, not looking at her. Eduardo looks up blankly.

"Yes," he says slowly. "I'm sorry?"

"Do you know algorithms?" asks Mark and just like that, Mark completely steals Dusty's tutor. Dusty stares in disbelief as Eduardo and Mark fall into conversation and then looks over at Chris. Chris gives Dusty a sort of half-smile and looks back down at her book.

"I can't believe that happened," Dusty grouses later to Chris. "This is ridiculous."

Chris sits on the edge of Dusty's bed and smiles. "I think it's kind of cute. You're helping Mark meet new people."

"That's true, I guess," Dusty says. "But that bastard stole my tutor!"

Chris bumps her bare foot against Dusty's calf. Dusty completely loses her train of thought for a moment and tunes in to hear Chris saying, "- still hang out with them, though."

"Sure," Dusty says, figuring that's a safe enough answer.

"We should all go out," Chris says. "Next week end. We'll go to a bar, try out those fake IDs you got."

Dusty laughs guiltily and says, "All right, sure."

Chris winks at Dusty and gets up to climb into her own bed. Dusty watches her, feeling horribly dirty for imagining what's underneath Chris's baggy sweatshirt.

"So screwed," Dusty mutters to herself.

\-----

"Chris is pretty hot, right?" Dusty slurs to Mark, somewhat morosely. Chris is dancing with Eduardo and the two of them look depressingly good together. Rationally, Dusty knows that Chris isn't interested in Eduardo, but that doesn't stop her from being jealous of the way Chris is swaying her hips at Eduardo.

Mark hunches over his beer and looks at her blankly. "Does it matter what I think?"

"I just, you know." Dusty waves vaguely. "She's _hot_ , right?"

"Yeah," Mark says after a moment. "She is."

" _Exactly_ ," Dusty says emphatically. "And she's my _roommate_. Mark, you don't understand." She reaches out and tugs at his arm. "I want to go down on her and I want her to -"

"Dusty, shut up," Mark says tightly, a slight flush rising to his cheeks.

Dusty sighs and slumps back against the booth. "You are the worst friend ever."

"I don't need you to describe lesbian sex to me," Mark says sharply. "You're just reminding me of things I don't have."

"You wish you were a lesbian?" Dusty asks, confused.

"Don't be stupid," says Mark and his gaze darts, almost involuntarily, towards Eduardo and Chris. Abruptly, everything becomes clear.

"Oh," Dusty says in great sympathy. "I mean, guys aren't really my thing, but I have to admit, I'd probably go straight for Wardo."

Mark glares at her and she grins before drinking more of her cocktail.

Chris has to help her back to the dorm after they leave the bar. She hooks Dusty's arm over her shoulder and they stumble down the street together. Eduardo and Mark have vanished somewhere, leaving Chris and Dusty to find their way by themselves.

Chris smells like floral shampoo and sweat and Dusty wants to taste her. Without really thinking about it, she licks Chris's neck.

Chris jerks, startled, and says, "Dusty! Did you just lick me?"

"Maybe," Dusty says shiftily. She buries her face in Chris's neck and mutters, "Shit."

"You are really drunk," Chris says sadly, stroking her hand up and down Dusty's back.

"Not _that_ drunk," Dusty lies. She lifts her head and smiles at Chris. "You're so gorgeous."

Chris laughs awkwardly. "Thank you, I guess."

"You _are_ ," Dusty says emphatically. "Christine. You're _amazing_."

"Let's get you to bed," Chris says, ignoring her, and Dusty sighs.

\-----

Dusty spends most of the next morning praying to the porcelain god and wishing she could just die and end her torment. Chris pops in and out to rub Dusty's back and offer her water or Gatorade. Dusty just lies on the floor of the communal bathroom and tries not to think about how dirty the floor is.

"Chris," she says in a hoarse voice the next time Chris comes in, "we have got to get our own apartment next year. This is disgusting. I am going to get hepatitis from the floor."

Chris crouches down and brushes Dusty's hair back from her face. "Yeah, I was thinking that too. Are you feeling any better?"

"I'll take a shower in a minute," Dusty says. "I don't think I have anything else to vomit up."

"I'll bring you your shower stuff," Chris says and she pads out of the bathroom. Dusty hauls herself up and flushes the toilet before staggering over to one of the shower stalls. She's in the process of taking off her shirt when Chris comes back.

"Oh!" Chris says, averting her eyes. "Sorry!"

Dusty drops her shirt on the floor and reaches out to take her clothes and towels from Chris. "Thank you."

"And your shampoo," Chris says, taking the shower bag off her arm. "And, um." She holds out a pair of Dusty's underwear, her face bright red. "I'll, uh, just go."

Dusty squints at Chris, confused. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine!" Chris says, her voice pitching slightly higher than usual. "I'll – I'll see you back in the room."

Dusty sighs as Chris darts out of the bathroom and she drops her pants and undies before stepping into the shower. She takes a very cold shower first, then turns it as hot as it will go, washing the smell of sick off of herself. She towels herself off and steps into her clothes. It occurs to her that Chris's fingers have touched the crotch of her underwear, and Dusty shivers a bit. Secondhand fingering, she thinks, and then immediately smacks herself in the forehead because that is so _fucking pathetic_.

Dusty collects her things and returns to the room. She collapses onto her bed and presses a hand to her face. She still feels slightly feverish and she has the beginnings of a headache. She squints over at Chris, who is staring very intently at a copy of _Swann's Way_ , and asks, "Do you think I could be sick?"

"What do you mean?" Chris asks vaguely.

"I think I have a cold or something," Dusty says and she sneezes. "This is ridiculous."

"Well, you haven't been sleeping that much recently," Chris says neutrally. "Maybe your immune system is down."

"Great," Dusty says and she sneezes again.

Dusty takes a nap and wakes up with a stuffy nose and a sore throat. She groans and rolls over to press her face into the pillow.

"Dusty?" she hears Chris ask. "Are you okay?"

"I'm sick," Dusty says mournfully. "I feel sick."

She hears Chris close her book. "Roll over, Dusty," she says, and Dusty does, squinting up at Chris, who lays a cool hand on Dusty's forehead. "Oh, wow. You're burning up."

"Shit," says Dusty. "This sucks."

"I'll get you some food and meds," Chris says, moving to grab her coat. "Don't worry. We'll get you better."

"You don't have to do this," Dusty protests, but Chris ignores her and leaves the room. Dusty sighs and closes her eyes, intending to rest for just a moment or so.

She wakes up to the smell of soup. Chris is sitting on the edge of her bed again, this time armed with a cup of soup from the dining hall and a Gatorade. She passes the Gatorade over first along with a handful of pills. Dusty swallows the pills without looking at them - she doesn't think Chris is planning on killing her or anything - and chases them with some Gatorade.

"You should probably go back to sleep," Chris says. "Do you think you could keep down some soup?"

Dusty's stomach lurches unpleasantly at the thought of eating and she says, "Better not."

"Right." Chris hesitates, then brushes a few strands of hair away from Dusty's face. "Sleep, Dusty."

"Thanks," Dusty says, already drifting off again. "You're the best."

The last thing she hears before passing out is Chris's snort.

The next time Dusty wakes up, it's dark outside and Chris is curled up on her bed, still in her clothes. Dusty gets up and shuffles over to the mini fridge. She digs out the container of soup and heats it up, humming to herself. When she turns around, Chris is awake and rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Oh, you're hungry," Chris says, focusing on Dusty. "That's good."

"Yeah," Dusty says, sitting down at her desk. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

"I didn't mean to fall asleep," Chris says wryly. "Are you feeling any better?"

"A little," Dusty says. "Thank you for everything, Chris, I know it must suck to have me around like this."

Chris rolls her eyes. "It's not a burden to take care of you, Dusty," she says dryly. "I like you. You're my friend."

Dusty feels herself go red at this and she hurriedly eats some more soup. When she's recovered herself, she says, "Thank you anyway."

"You're welcome," Chris says softly.

\-----

The thing is, Dusty had been fine with just having a crush. Crushes are manageable. They suck a lot, but she can at least deal with them. She can deal with having a stupid crush on her roommate.

What isn't so manageable is being _in love_ with her roommate.

Disgustingly, Mark is the one who notices first. He's sitting in their room again, this time using their wi-fi, and he looks up at Dusty, his mouth twisted into a small smile. Dusty is staring, sort of fixedly, at the way Chris’s hair falls over her shoulder, her hands resting impotently on her keyboard.

"Not looking so pathetic now, am I?" he asks her in an undertone. She starts and looks up at him, flushing.

"Shut up," she mutters, looking down at her textbook. "I never said you were pathetic."

"You thought it," says Mark, which is - true. "At least he isn't my roommate."

"Could you shut up?" hisses Dusty, glancing nervously over at Chris, who fortunately has her headphones on.

"At least you know you're potentially her type," says Mark bitterly. "I still can't tell who Eduardo likes to sleep with."

"He'd sleep with you," Dusty mumbles, hunching over her laptop.

Mark looks over at her sharply, but doesn't reply. They both work in silence for a few minutes, and then Mark says, "So where are you guys living next year?"

"We were thinking of getting a place," says Dusty. "Why, you want to live with us?"

Mark looks around the room. One of his hoodies is draped over Chris's chair, there is a pile of his psychology textbooks on Dusty's desk, and Dusty knows there's a six pack of Red Bull in the mini fridge.

"Okay," Dusty acknowledges. "You pretty much live with us already."

"Yeah," Mark says.

"You're going to pay the electricity bill," says Dusty. "I've seen how many computers you have in your room."

Mark shrugs. "Cool."

"What about Eduardo?" asks Dusty carefully, because she kind of thinks it would be cool if Eduardo lived with them too. "Is he living off campus next year?"

"I don't think so," says Mark and he leaves it there. Dusty rolls her eyes at Mark's utter failure to communicate like a normal human being and resolves to ask Eduardo about it later.

\----

They find a place close to campus that has two bedrooms, one larger and one smaller. They agree that Chris and Dusty will get the larger one while Mark and his computers will get the smaller one. Dusty tries asking Eduardo why he's not living with them, but he mutters something about his father and Dusty decides not to pry.

Dusty heads home to Florida and spends the time she's not interning on the beach, getting as tan as possible. She goes down to Miami to visit Eduardo a few times and they both get fantastically drunk on caipirinhas. Chris joins them once and Dusty ends the night with her head in Christy's lap while Eduardo calls Mark on speakerphone.

"Hi Mark," Eduardo croons into the phone when Mark picks up. "We miss you down here. You should be down here."

"You should be," Dusty echoes loudly. Chris laughs and scratches her nails across Dusty's scalp. Dusty twitches a little and presses her face into Chris's jean-clad thigh because Chris is tipsy and isn't pushing Dusty off her.

"It's not the same without you," Chris says sincerely and Mark snorts, sounding tinny and crackly through the phone connection.

"I'm sure you're having much more fun without me," he says.

"Never," Eduardo says, and he sounds far too sincere for comfort. "I l - I miss you, Mark."

Dusty blinks and lifts her head. She looks at Chris, who nods in confirmation, her eyes wide. “Did he really just –” Dusty says and Chris lays a finger on Dusty’s lips, mouthing, _be quiet_.

Chris and Dusty leave Eduardo's room a little after that and head to the guest bedroom that Mrs. Saverin had set up for them. Chris is swaying a little, humming under her breath, and Dusty can't help but push her up against the hallway wall. Chris lets out a surprised breath and looks at Dusty in surprise.

"Dusty?" she asks. "What are you doing?"

"If you haven't forgotten this in the morning – pretend you have," Dusty says and she kisses Chris, tangling her hand in Chris's long blond hair. Chris gasps and arches up into Dusty, her hands traveling down to grab Dusty's ass.

They stumble down the hall into the guest bedroom and Chris pushes Dusty down onto the bed, opening Dusty's jeans with a practiced flick of her wrist. Dusty moans as Chris mouths at her through her underwear, her hands clenching in the bedsheets.

Chris licks her open until Dusty is squirming and desperate because she has to keep quiet. Dusty clenches her hands in Chris's hair and comes, her body shaking. Chris crawls her way up to kiss Dusty, her mouth wet, and Dusty shoves her hand into Chris's jeans. Chris is already wet and Dusty's fingers slip easily against her. Dusty presses her thumb against Chris's clit and slides her middle finger inside her, mouthing at the side of Chris's neck until Chris says, " _Dusty_ ," and comes.

Dusty licks off her fingers curiously and catches Chris staring at her. "What?"

"Dusty," she sighs, and she kisses Dusty again, kisses her until Dusty is rubbing herself off on Chris's thigh with increasing desperation. Dusty reaches down to pull Chris flush against her and Chris lets out a weird little gasping noise as she shudders against Dusty again.

"Oh, Chris," says Dusty breathlessly when Chris finds that sensitive spot on her neck. "God."

Chris bites her ear and Dusty comes again. They separate, rolling over onto their backs. Dusty works off her jeans and underwear and throws them onto the floor before going to dig out a new pair of panties from her backpack. She gets back into bed next to Chris, who rolls over to curl up around Dusty. Dusty shivers as Chris's bare thighs touch hers.

"Go to sleep, Dusty," says Chris, her breath warm against Dusty's neck.

"I'm trying," says Dusty grumpily. She's trying really hard not to think about how Chris is _right there_ and how Dusty could turn around and kiss her way down between Chris's breasts –

Dusty gives up trying to resist and turns around so she can kiss Chris again.

\-----

Chris is gone when she wakes up in the morning. Dusty rolls over, feeling slightly grimy, and winces at the smell of the thick, heavy air. She climbs out of bed and staggers into the attached bathroom. She turns the shower on as hot as it will go and stands under the spray until she no longer feels like dying.

She puts on a pair of shorts and an old band shirt from high school before heading downstairs. Eduardo is sitting at his kitchen table with his head in his hands, carefully positioned to be out of the sunlight. Dusty takes pity on him and pats him on the back instead of making a loud noise like she really wants to.

“Hey,” she says, sitting next to him. “How are you?”

“Drive me to the ocean and don’t stop,” says Eduardo.

“I’ll take that as ‘shitty, with mild chances of vomit,’” Dusty says. Eduardo cracks a smile at the weather joke and Dusty grins. “I’ll make coffee if you tell me what to do.”

“Chris is out getting donuts,” says Eduardo. “She was up early.”

“Yeah, I noticed,” Dusty mutters. She self-consciously rubs the place under her ear where Chris had keep kissing during their third – or was it their fourth? – round. “Did she – um. Did she say anything?”

“Should she have?” asks Eduardo blankly.

“No, no,” says Dusty. “Just wondering.”

Eduardo squints at her. “Did something happen between you guys? Did you have a fight?”

Dusty snorts involuntarily. “Uh,” she says, “no.”

Eduardo’s eyes widen. “You had sex,” he says incredulously.

“What?” Dusty jerks upright. “How – what?”

“You’re not as subtle as you like to think, Dustine,” Eduardo says dryly. “And Chris looked suspiciously happy when she came downstairs. You did, didn’t you?”

“Shut up,” says Dusty. “And don’t tell Mark.”

Some weird emotion flutters across Eduardo’s face at Mark’s name. “No,” he says. “I won’t tell Mark.”

\-----

Chris returns about ten minutes later with a box of donuts and three coffees. She sets the box and the cups down on the table before smiling hesitantly at Dusty. “Good morning,” she says.

“God, just kiss her,” says Eduardo through a mouthful of donut.

“Um,” says Dusty, smiling helplessly at Chris. “Hi.”

Chris’s smile widens until it threatens to overtake her whole face. “I can kiss you?”

“Please do,” says Dusty and Chris leans down to plant a slow, leisurely kiss on Dusty’s mouth. When she pulls back, Dusty says, “Does this mean we only have to buy one bed for the apartment?”

Chris laughs and sits on Dusty’s knee before grabbing a donut. “Yeah, I guess it does.”


End file.
